Partied Out

So yesterday was a day of parties. I had three to go to.

First, was a Bridal Shower for Jaclyn Stuckenbroker. She is getting married on June 27th to Jason Dewall. It was held at the catholic chuch here in Windom. It was a tupperware party... so I will be getting some new tupperware in the next couple weeks!!! It was a fun party filled with a couple games, advice for Jaclyn, and some yummy food.

The second party of the day was a going away party for Taylor Crow. He ships out to join the army on Wednesday, so this was his last hurrah in Windom. It was a pot luck type event with Brad cooking some delicious pork loins in his smoker. There was lots of talking and a few lawn games such as lawn golf being played. The fire pit became the center of the action just before we were leaving as a large group had gathered around for some lively conversation. Taylor, however, was in the garage with a bunch of friends his age gearing up for a night of partying.

The last party of the night was a retirement party for Larry Gravley. The Gravleys happen to own the old RollerDome, although it is now used as Auction House. They do still have all the skates tho! So we went Roller Skating. They set up the the front area with a whole spread of beer & liquor and a ton of food. The skate area had some tables squeezed in on one side to accomadate all the non-skaters, the skates up front, and a DJ up front. The DJ also had a karaoke machine and many people got up to sing songs and dedicate them to the man of the night. I think it has been about 10 years since I was last on Roller Skates, so it took a little getting used to them. I am by no means a good or fast skater, so when I decided to try the limbo, I promptly fell on my ass... so it's a little sore this morning. So without futher ado, here are the pics from the evening.

Michelle & I sporting our awesome skates!

A fake fall... this one hurt a lot less than the actual fall...

Two person train! Woot Woot!

Would you look at this! I am as tall as Chris when I have skates on and he is only in shoes! (he was trying to throw me around in circles here)

And here we are with extra-shorty!!

We even got Gary to skate around for a few laps.

And this dude here in the orange shirt and hat was from Tennesse.... he introduced himself to us by grabbing me while I was on skates and saying "I'm marrying her... what's your name?" Once he learned I was already married tho, he turned most of his attention to Michelle, even getting her to dance with him.

It was a very interesting day/night to say the least. I had a lot of fun!

Motorcycle Class

This past weekend I took the Basic RiderCourse from Ride Safe, Ride Smart! in the parking lot of Windom's high school. At the end of the two day course I have my motorcycle endorsement!!!

It was a cold, windy weekend, so I wore my snowmobile coat to help keep me warm. I rode a Kawasaki Eliminator named Josh. I had a lot of fun, however, by the end of each day I was just exhausted!

Below are some pics from the weekend.

Not sure what I was practicing here...

The cone weave.

Practicing cornering? or perhaps shifting??? Hmm?

Here is a pic of group: Me, Justin, Dean, Mike, Stacie, Joe, Leah, Instructor Brent, Kari, & Instructor Debbie. What a great weekend!

Spring Clean-up

We have been very busy around here starting to clean up the place.

The additions and garage of G-ma's and G-pa's have been shingled.

About 30 trees from around the garden and old stable/barn have been cut down so the garden can grow and the roof can be repaired.

The garden is planted!

We still have a long way to go tho!

Girl's Weekend (3) - Sightseeing

Saturday morning when we woke up we all got ready to go see more of La Crosse (which I must say takes awhile with 5 girls & 1 shower).


We went to the top of Granddad Bluff where you can see Iowa, Minnesota, and of course Wisconsin all at the same time. It is 590 ft above the surrounding land. It also has a great view of La Crosse itself. Behind us in this pic is La Crosse, the Mississippi river, & more bluffs.

After the bluff we decided to hit up the local mall... because we are girls afterall! We stopped at a jewelry store to look at rings for the girls who have boyfreinds who will hopefully be proposing in the near future. ;)

Later on in the afternoon, Amy's friend from college, Liz, showed up to join the party. We passed the afternoon with typical girl talk and fun.

For supper, Jennie made us yummy enchiladas! and Kelly made us some frozen strawberry pie dessert! So good!


We decided to take another walk at night and enjoy the wonderful weather. We visited a garden down by the Mississippi that is split into different 'themes' from around the world. The entry way was modeled after a chinese garden. Above is Kelly, Sarah, Jennie, Me & Liz.



There was a pond with a stream and a bridge that was just screaming for a picture.


We got to see a beautiful sunset on the Mississippi River. This gazebo was in the garden by the river - so beautiful!

Kelly & me by the Mississippi.

We decided to stay in for the night, so we rented a few movies.

Sunday morning we chilled some more before leaving for home. It was a wonderful weekend, I had so much fun hanging out with old friends!

Girl's Weekend (2) - Bar Hoppin' Fools

Friday night we ate at a local mexican resturant in La Crosse. We got there *just* in time for the happy hour margaritas - Yummy!!!

We then went back to Amy's apartment to play some cards while enjoying a few drinks before getting ready to hit up the bars downtown. The bars are between Amy's apartment and the Mississippi - just a short walk from her place.

First, we visited Who's On Third? which has these wonderful fishbowl's. Very good! (although Amy says the blue one is better)

Enjoying the Fishbowl!


Then, we went to The Library

where they played some great music we could dance to!


Next, we stopped at Coconut Joe's & Legend's (which are 2 bars connected together). They play different music, so of course we danced at both places!

We then continued on to Brother's and Cheap Shot's (where the Jenna Jameson shot is wonderful!)

We then started to make our way back up the street, where we stopped at The Library again to dance and sing at the top of our lungs...


and then we passed a bar blasting some loud music, and using their fog machine a little bit too much... but we had a lot of fun dancing there.

Once we made it back to Amy's house, we found some munchies before heading to bed for the night and more adventure on Saturday...

Shiny, New, & Blue

OK, so this post should have been before the girls weekend post, but I totally forgot to post it first. Apparently, I am not so on top of this whole blogging thing.

I finally took my motorcycle permit test. So now I can drive a motorcycle with a few restrictions: no night riding, no interstate riding, no passengers, and I must wear a helmet.

So, I bought myself a motorcycle! :)

It's a 2004 Yamaha 650 V-star. And it makes me happy! (although I must admit I am a little scared of it too)

I am taking a motorcycle class in a few weekends (it's a two day class) to get some more experience and get my license. Yay!

Girl's Weekend - Down by the River

This past weekend was a girls (extended) weekend! Jennie, Kelly & I packed our things and took a trip to visit Amy in La Crosse, WI. Sarah also drove down from the cities for some fun! Amy happens to be finishing school this month, so this was our last opportunity to visit her.

La Crosse is located on the Mississippi River, and Amy's apartment happens to be within walking distance. So, we wandered down to the river to enjoy the beautiful weather!

We took the opportunity to take some beautiful pictures by the river. It was so much fun!!! Above is Jennie, Amy, Me, Sarah, & Kelly.

We stole the idea for this pic from Jennie's sister - but it turned out great!

In the back of this picture is the Mississippi River Bridge (aka Cass Street Bridge) over the Mississippi.

There was a fountain in the park by the river and we had a lot of fun taking pics there too! I love the faces in the pics from our fountain jumping!